1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a selector and a method for selecting one radiation converter and one processor in cases where a plurality of radiation converters and/or a plurality of processors are provided, and relates to a program that is executed by the selector.
Also, the present invention relates to a radiographic image capturing system and a radiographic image capturing method for converting, with a selected radiation converter, radiation that has passed through a subject into a radiographic image, and processing the radiographic image with one processor.
Further, the present invention relates to a radiation converter for selecting one processor from among a plurality of processors, and a processor for selecting one radiation converter from among a plurality of radiation converters.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, in medical institutions such as a hospital, the following radiographic image capturing system is constructed. In such a radiographic image capturing system, in order to acquire a desired radiographic image of a subject, a doctor uses a radiology information system (RIS) to set subject information including the name, age, gender, etc., of the subject, and image capturing conditions including a radiographic image capturing method, a region to be imaged, an image capturing apparatus to be used, and irradiation conditions for determining a radiation dose at which radiation is applied to the region to be imaged. The above information is supplied to a console (processor) installed in the radiological department. Then, a radiological technician in the site operates the processor to control a specified image capturing apparatus according to the irradiation conditions, thereby acquiring a radiographic image of the subject. The radiographic image is subjected to a predetermined image processing process, and then supplied to a viewer with which the doctor interprets the radiographic image for diagnosis.
In radiological departments of large medical institutions, each image capturing room has the radiation source of such an image capturing apparatus, and such a processor. In this case, the radiological technician brings a radiation converter into a certain image capturing room, and positions the radiation converter at a predetermined position with respect to a subject. Then, the radiation source in the image capturing room radiates radiation to the subject according to image capturing conditions that have been set through the processor. Thus, the radiation converter converts the radiation that has passed through the subject into a radiographic image and sends it to the processor. The processor performs a certain image processing process on the received radiographic image. At this time, unless the radiation converter and the processor are correctly associated with each other, the appropriate radiographic image of the subject can not be acquired.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2006-247141 has proposed that a radiological technician performs input operation on the input unit of a processor to select one processor from among a plurality of processors, and associates the selected processor and one radiation converter.
However, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2006-247141, the processor is not automatically selected because the radiological technician associates one processor with one radiation converter. Thus, such an associating process by the technician is time-consuming, and the associating process can not be performed efficiently.
Also, even if the one processor and the one radiation converter are associated with each other, it is impossible to transmit/receive the radiographic image stably unless a communication state is secured to such an extent that radiographic images can be transmitted/received between the one processor and the one radiation converter. In this case, the one processor can not acquire the appropriate radiographic image of the subject.
In the above explanation, disadvantages are described, for example, in a case where one processor selected from among the plurality of processors is associated with one radiation converter. However, not only in the above case, but in cases where one radiation converter selected from among a plurality of radiation converters is associated with one processor, and one radiation converter selected from among a plurality of radiation converters is associated with one processor selected from among a plurality of processors, the same disadvantages are expected to occur.